RFCA Governance & Oversight Inadequacy
Inadequate governance and oversight of Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations (RFCAs), requiring significant reform.
25 items
2 sources
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#18 - RFCA governance and oversight require significant reform to support Strategic Defence Review ambitions.
The Department said it is now at an ‘inflection point’ where the governance and oversight of the RFCAs needs to be fit for purpose to support the ambitions in the SDR. In part, the Department intends to achieve this through its desired creation of an NDPB. It explained that other elements involved embedding good governance and oversight and...
Matched on
terms: governance, oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
98match
#4 - Detail plans to enhance accountability for RFCA performance under current arrangements.
The Department will need to continue to manage around the limitations of its current oversight arrangements for the RFCAs until it has established an NDPB. The Department has improved its oversight of the RFCAs since 2019, implementing around 70% of the Sullivan Review’s recommendations either fully or partially. It now has a single senior responsible owner, the Assistant...
Matched on
terms: governance, oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
95match
#17 - Balancing national oversight with local volunteer spirit is key challenge for RFCA reform.
The Department said that the challenge is to balance the need for a professional and effective national organisation that can be held to account, with the ability to leverage the membership’s volunteer spirit. It said that there was an ongoing conversation with the RFCAs around 20 Qq 17 and 18 21 Q 53 22 Qq 54 and 55;...
Matched on
terms: oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
90match
#28 - Department lacks an overall HM Treasury compliant financial framework for RFCAs.
The Department told us that over the last two years it had strengthened its financial oversight of the RFCAs and that monthly conversations between finance teams meant that it understood performance and risks.45 However, the Department did not have an overall financial framework for the RFCAs which complied with HM Treasury requirements. In April 2022 the Department asked...
Matched on
terms: governance, oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
90match
#1 - Committee initiated inquiry into MOD oversight and support of Reserve Forces’ Associations.
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) and the Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (the Council) on their oversight and support of the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs).1
Matched on
terms: oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
78match
#15 - Primary legislation for new RFCA NDPB thwarted by lack of parliamentary time.
One of the two headline recommendations in the Department’s 2019 review of the RFCAs was to regularise and streamline the Council and 13 RFCAs into a single NDPB. This would provide a clear governance structure that aligned with government policy to transmit, delegate, implement and enforce decisions. However, creating an NDPB requires primary legislation, and the Department’s earlier...
Matched on
terms: governance, rfca
Committee recommendation
77match
#19 - Departmental oversight of RFCAs improved since 2019, implementing 70% of Sullivan Review recommendations.
The Department said that its oversight of the RFCAs had improved since the publication of the Sullivan Review in 2019, and that it had fully or partially implemented around 70% of the Review’s 80 recommendations. It now has a single senior responsible owner, the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets), to coordinate the Department’s various...
Matched on
terms: oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
74match
#25 - Unanticipated VAT liability reduced RFCA volunteer estate maintenance funds.
The Department had not anticipated that the RFCAs would be liable to pay VAT on work done through the FDIS contract, which has resulted in the RFCAs having had less money available for maintenance than expected. The Department explained that the crux of the issue was ownership of the estate which had been built up over 100 years...
Matched on
terms: oversight, rfca
Committee recommendation
70match
#5 - Integrate volunteer estate needs into defence investment plan and report on RFCA VAT progress.
The Department does not have a modernised and fit-for-purpose volunteer estate to support the enhanced roles of the reserves and cadets. The reserve training sites are the basis for mobilising the reserves, while having accommodation for thousands of cadet units to operate across the UK provides an important, nationwide presence. However, the volunteer estate has been in a...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
66match
#20 - RFCA service agreements improved, but lack clear escalation processes and accountability culture.
In recent years the Department has improved the quality of the five service level agreements (SLAs) that it has with the Council, which set out what the armed forces and Department require the RFCAs to deliver each year. The Department reviews progress against the SLAs three times a year, and it told us that this has provided discipline...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
66match
#16 - Establishing new RFCA NDPB remains preferred route, legislation anticipated in 2026 Armed Forces Bill.
The Department confirmed that establishing an NDPB remained its preferred route forward. This would facilitate a streamlined organisation, simplify back-office functions and clarify accountabilities. The Department said that the next opportunity for the necessary legislation would be in the Armed Forces Bill, which it is obliged to update by the end of 2026.24
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
66match
#6 - Implement HM Treasury-compliant financial framework, publish timely RFCA accounts, and ensure future compliance.
The Department’s arrangements for monitoring and reporting on the RFCAs’ financial performance are inadequate. The RFCAs’ accounts have been produced very late in recent years. The Department published the RFCAs accounts for 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 together, in October 2024, which means that some information about the Council and the RFCAs’ financial performance was not publicly available until...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
65match
#3 - Update Committee on progress establishing new NDPB for cadet and reserve forces.
The Department has not secured the legislative slot it needs for its preferred route forward, of streamlining the 13 RFCAs and the Council into a non-departmental public body (NDPB). Creating an NDPB requires legislation. However, the Department’s earlier plan to rationalise the RFCAs into an NDPB, which would simplify back-office functions and clarify accountabilities, was thwarted by a...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
65match
#8 - RFCAs adopting customer-segmentation approach for effective employer engagement.
The Department said that engaging with society and employers was essential. Effective engagement with employers, building on the RFCAs’ Defence Relationship Management function and securing employers’ support for their staff to be involved in the reserves, will be important for the Department achieving its ambitions.11 The Department emphasised the huge success of its employer engagement, which had exceeded...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
62match
#27 - Some RFCA financial reporting failed to comply with HM Treasury guidance.
Some of the RFCAs’ financial reporting has not complied with HM Treasury guidance and International Financial Reporting Standards. For example, the RFCAs’ accounts have not included a cash flow statement, nor have they correctly disclosed a defined benefit pension scheme for employees. Non-compliance with these rules has created an inconsistency in the financial reporting between the Department and...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
56match
#21 - Volunteer estate of 2,500 dispersed sites is critical infrastructure for cadets and reserves.
Stewardship of the volunteer estate is one of the RFCAs’ core activities. The volunteer estate, which provides the essential infrastructure that the cadets and reserves need to operate, is made up of around 2,500 sites which are widely dispersed around the UK and range from cadet huts to multipurpose reserve centres. The reserve training sites are the basis...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
53match
#26 - Department consistently failed to publish Council's Annual Report and Accounts promptly.
For the past four years, the Department has failed to publish the Council’s Annual Report and Accounts in a timely manner, and the Department acknowledged that the process was much longer and more protracted than it would like. It published the accounts for 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 together in October 2024, which meant that some information about the...
Matched on
terms: rfca
Committee recommendation
53match
#22 - Volunteer estate in managed decline, requiring optimisation programme to dispose and modernise sites.
The Department said that the volunteer estate was a critical enabler for it to deliver the ambitions for increasing the numbers of reserves and cadets set out in the SDR. However, the Department told us that the estate had been in a state of managed decline, and that it had too many sites, some of which are not...
Matched on
classifier match
NAO recommendation
51match
Managing FCDO’s overseas estate
FCDO should review its estates governance structure to ensure that it is working effectively. FCDO should review whether its new ESND structure is achieving the intended benefits and identify whether any further improvements are necessary to ensure effective oversight of its overseas estate.
Matched on
terms: governance, oversight
Committee recommendation
45match
#23 - Future estate optimisation phases lack secured funding and a firm completion timeline.
The Department has planned two further phases of the estate optimisation programme. It envisages these will consolidate some sites, establishing multidisciplinary super reserve centres with additional facilities such as car parking, accommodation and feeding facilities.34 However, the Department has not yet secured funding for these phases of the programme, and it was unable to give us a firm...
Matched on
classifier match
NAO recommendation
44match
Government Shared Services
c) The Cabinet Office should streamline its central governance arrangements so that they avoid duplication and unnecessary work for departments.
Matched on
terms: governance
Committee recommendation
41match
#5 - Mandate a dedicated Scottish representative on the permanent Industrial Strategy Council in future legislation.
We welcome the establishment of a permanent Industrial Strategy Council when parliamentary time allows. However, while we acknowledge that there has been engagement between the council and Scottish stakeholders, we are concerned that the absence of a dedicated Scottish representative limits the Council’s ability to understand Scotland’s distinct economic and constitutional landscape. When legislation to create a permanent...
Matched on
classifier match
NAO recommendation
35match
The Ajax programme
b) reassess the way the programme is governed and resourced – focusing on the role of the programme board and interfaces between the Army, DE&S and the bodies involved in trials and managing the interdependencies. Duty holders should have sufficient authority to perform their roles, and the governance structure needs to support clear and timely decision-making to provide...
Matched on
terms: governance